On Tuesday, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) announced that it received recognition for its innovative steam generator inspection technology at the 2025 Technology Transfer Award (TTA) ceremony hosted by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) in Phoenix, Arizona.
EPRI is a nonprofit international research organization that focuses on power-industry technology development, with participation from over 40 member countries. The TTA honors achievements in the successful application of EPRI technologies in industrial settings.
In this case, KHNP was recognized for effectively implementing the equivalency verification method for steam generator tube inspection technology in the field.
Previously, verifying the suitability of inspection technology required individual checks of multiple items. However, KHNP transitioned to a system-level verification approach by adopting EPRI’s inspection technology.
To ensure smooth integration of EPRI’s inspection technology, KHNP tailored guidelines to fit domestic power plant environments and implemented them across all facilities. The company also conducted comprehensive technical training, which rapidly enhanced field applicability. As a result, the inspection process has been significantly streamlined, reducing steam generator tube inspection times and achieving cost savings of approximately $ 16.5 million.
EPRI lauded this achievement as a model of technology transfer, noting that it goes beyond mere adoption to institutionalize the technology for nationwide, locally tailored application.
The Central Research Institute of KHNP said the award was the result of close collaboration with EPRI and added that it is committed to actively researching and implementing cutting-edge technologies to further enhance the safety of its power plants.